Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 7

Leadership - Essay Example f leadership in business can be fully understood if it is applied to the leadership qualities exhibited and promoted by Jack Welch during his tenure at GE. His leadership has been credited as one of the primary reasons which took GE from a company which was in financial trouble and losing investor confidence to the position of the most admired and respected company in the world (Colvin, 2005). Jack Welch comes across clearly in terms of his leadership ideal when he gives the eight rules of leadership in his book titled Winning. These rules can be studied in the light of leadership theories and a final analysis can be made as to which are the exact ideals of leadership that are recommended by Jack Welch. The eight rules as suggested by Welch (2005) are: With these rules in mind, two theories of leadership can be applied to the style used by Welch and these are the trait theories set and the situational theories of leadership. Gardner (1995) presents us with several ideas which leaders can use to change their leadership styles or how they can balance the styles depending on the situation. The idea of leadership traits can come with several stereotypes or ideas that some people are born leaders, but leadership skills can also be taught to people although the right personality always helps (Welch, 2005). For example, when we consider the third rule given by Welch which states that leaders must give out and infect others with positive energy and optimistic views about situations. That is a key pointer towards the fact that Jack Welch considers the majority of leadership skills to come from the trait theory than any other applicable theory. Undoubtedly, optimism is a personality trait and being able to create optimism or any other emphatic feeling in others requires a leader to have charisma (DePree, 1989). Charisma is accepted by DePree (1998) to be a rare quality which is attributed to those leaders who create devoted followers. Devoted followers and employees who

Project of Demand Estimation Essay Example for Free

Project of Demand Estimation Essay Instruction: You should prepare the case with your group members. Each group is required to submit a word file detailing your analysis. You will be graded on your group’s performance and your contribution to your group. Summary of the case: You work for Price Waterman Coopers as a market analyst. PWC has been hired by the owner of two Burger King restaurants located in a suburban Atlanta market area to study the demand for its basic hamburger meal package–referred to as â€Å"Combination 1 on its menus. The two restaurants face competition in the Atlanta suburb from five other hamburger restaurants (three MacDonald’s and two Wendy’s restaurants) and three other restaurants serving â€Å"drive-through† fast food (a Taco Bell, a Kentucky Fried Chicken, and a small family-owned Chinese restaurant). The owner of the two Burger King restaurants provides PWC with the data shown in Table 1 (Table 1 is in a separate excel file). Q is the total number of Combination 1 meals sold at both locations during each week in 1998. P is the average price charged for a Combination 1 meal at the two locations. [Prices are identical at the two Burger King locations.] Every week the Burger King owner advertises special price offers at its two restaurants exclusively in daily newspaper advertisements. A is the dollar amount spent on newspaper ads for each week in 1998. The owner could not provide PWC with data on prices charged by other competing restaurants during 1998. For the one-year time period of the study, household income and population in the suburb did not change enough to warrant inclusion in the demand analysis. a) Using the data in Table 1, specify a linear functional form for the demand for Combination 1 meals, and run a regression to estimate the demand for Combo 1 meals. b) Using statistical software, estimate the parameters of the empirical demand function specified in part a. Write your estimated demand equation for Combination 1 meals. c) Evaluate your regression results by examining signs of parameters, p-values (or t-ratios), and the adjusted R2. d) Discuss how the estimation of demand might be improved. e) Using your estimated demand equation, calculate an own-price elasticity and an advertising elasticity. Compute the elasticity values at the sample mean values of the data in Table 1. Discuss, in quantitative terms, the meaning of each elasticity. f) If the owner plans to charge a price of $4.15 for a Combination 1 meal and spend $18,000 per week on advertising, how many Combinations 1 meals do you predict will be sold each week? h) If the owner spends $18,000 per week on advertising, write the equation for the inverse demand function. Then, calculate the demand price for 50,000 Combination 1 meals.

Captial Punishment Essay -- essays research papers fc

Capital Punishment Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty and since ancient times it has been used to punish a wide variety of offenses. The Bible prescribes death for murder and many other crimes such as kidnapping and witchcraft. Major felonies carry the death penalty and some of these felonies are treason, murder, larceny, burglary, rape, and arson. In the 1800's however, England enacted many new capital offenses, and hundreds of persons were being sentenced to death each year. In the United States prior to the Civil War the death penalty was imposed on slaves for many crimes, but the penalty for others were less severe. Today, in 37 of the 50 states you can be sentenced to death if found guilty of a crime worthy of the death penalty. The United States is the only western democratic nation that has not banned the practice of capital punishment (Levine 160). Capital punishment is not answer to crime. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; onl y light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction" (mccsc.edu). Due to lack of a fair trial, innocence on death row, and the myth that it saves citizens money, the death penalty should be abolished. The US constitution states, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense." The US system is very good about keeping this right for every accused criminal. Although, there are those lawyers who don't car e about the people they represent. There are lawyers who have passed the bar, and have taken the oath to honorably defend. However, because of their illegal and immoral actions they were disbarred. Lawyers like this should not defend the accused, but they do. This does not protect the right to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. A major aspect of the death penalty is ... ... 1. Berns, Walter. For Capital Punishment. New York: Basic Books Inc, 1974. 2. Courtney, Bryan. "Fighting the Good Fight." The National Law Journal. 3 January 2000. 3. Daley, Suzanne. "Europeans Deplore Executions in US." New York Times 26 Feb. 2000. 4. Hood, Roger. The Death Penalty. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 5. Ingle, Joseph. Last Rights. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990. 6. Jean, Loren. "In New Hampshire, another look at Death Penalty." Boston Globe 5 Mar. 2000. 7. LaBrie, Stephen. "1999 was a good year for Death Penalty." American Lawyer Media. 29 December 1999. 8. Levine, Herbert. Political Issues Debated. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1993. 9. Mills, Steve and Armstrong, Ken. "A Tortured path to Death Row." Chicago Tribune 17 Nov. 1995. 10. Innocence and the Death Penalty: The Increasing Danger of Executing the Innocent. Washington, DC. 1 Apr. 2000 11. MLK Speeches. Atlanta, Georgia. 25 July 2000. http://www.mccsc.edu/ ~bhsntech/speeches.html 12. Amnesty International: Program to Abolish Death Penalty. 13. Armstrong, Ken and Steve Mills. "Inept defense Clouds Verdict." Chicago Tribune. 15 November 1999.

Jealousy and Manipulation in Othello

Jealousy and Manipulation in Othello He, who loves his wife for the lust, can run away from the situation that haunts him. But, he who loves his wife like he loves his god, loves to the death. Othello loved his wife so much, that if someone like Iago would plant seeds of lies and misjudgments into Othello, him and any other would go to the extreme as to kill her just to stop the pain. Jealousy itself it self is like a predator searching for the weak. Othello quotes, â€Å"O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock. The meat it feeds on. ~William Shakespeare, Othello. Iago, the predator, purposely imbedding jealous images into Othello’s head. Othello had no choice but to recognize how close his wifes relationship with Cassio really was. In his mind his closest friend is using their friendship to manipulate him into thinking they are friends just to get closer to Desdemona. â€Å" Get me some poison, Iago; this night! I’ll not expostulate with her, lest her body and beauty unprovid my mind again. † Iago’s manipulation is so great that Othello would kill the one he loved so much. Ruthless Iago knew that the only way to make the situation much worse was to convince Othello to murder his beloved with his bare hands. This away he could not get away with this action and he thought this would bring Othello to his own grave. So, Iago said â€Å"Do it not with poison, strangle her in the bed, even the bed she hath contaminated. † Now, I ago had Othello’s head wrapped around 2 things that this world has always had problems with – Jealousy & Manipulation. But , the true situation that ran this whole operation was greed. This monster controlled many kings, families and any person who could not control themselves. Iago’s greed was to become a higher ranked person than Cassio. With this he used his manipulation on Othello and Cassio unsuspectingly in the dungeon. Foolishly tricking Cassio into talking about his girlfriend, but making it seem to Othello he was talking about Desdemona. Iago could not get rid of Cassio himself. This tension was created because of Iago’s jealousy of Cassio and his rank. Getting rid of Cassio would boost his rank and get one step closer to Othello. Thinking Cassio has mated with his wife Othello cries out he wants Cassio dead. Othello becoming blind because of hatred and jealousy led him into becoming a â€Å"caotic monster. Othello’s past and current position as a soldier helped him solve how to take care of a problem and to him killing a person got rid of the problems that occurred just like in the wars before. The problem here is not war, it is his extreme love for his wife and his blindness for honesty is what led him into killing. Not know ing the truth can prevent honesty. But, to be manipulated and becoming jealous only fuels the fire. Othello’s heart for love became a wildfire. In the end greed won the battle, but the truth from Cassio and Iago’s wife set the pathway to destruction and ending the battles.

Manipulating and Controlling Women through Religions and Myths Essay

The first question is, who authored most of the religious dogma, myths, and other belief systems that we have at present? Until now, that is to say throughout all previous history, there has been a sharp gender asymmetry in the hierarchy of knowledge, and nowhere is this more clearly institutionalized than in religion (King 73). The written or oral creeds and their interpretation have for centuries dictated the societal roles that men or women played. Our epics, myths, and commandments arose from the creativity or imaginings of patriarchal society. The commonality of these expressions usually commanded woman’s subservience to the male superior its author. Before the emergence of women empowerment, it was the woman’s role to submit herself to the husband no matter what he is and did. If the setting was the home, she has to serve her king-the husband. Culture has dictated terms of what is feminine in behavior and appearance. Early Roman religious life has man as the dominant if not having the monopoly in a Roman city’s affairs. In the religious life of Rome we find reflected both the authority of the male members of society and the importance of the family as a unit of society. Women are as always not an active participant in its activities. Women are to a certain extent excluded from cult activities, not least in the public arena. They do not hold important positions of authority. Some may disagree with this and points to the so-called Vestal Virgins. Hinnels (Hinnels) points out that with the absence of women from public religious life there was one major exception, though that was a very significant one. The Vestal Virgins, the female priests of the cult of Vesta, were six women recruited as children of six years old and committed to the preservation of their virginity and the service of the goddess for thirty years. They were concerned with a very wide range of cults and rituals and it is clear that the security and health of the whole community depended on the maintenance of their duties. They had to keep the sacred fire on the hearth of Vesta burning at all times. In periods of extreme danger, the city sometimes turned on them and accused them of unchastity, evidently seeking to blame them for the crisis. If found guilty they were buried alive at the limit of the city. In some theories, they were originally the daughters of the old kings of Rome, so that their relationship to the fire and the hearth echoed the duties of the ordinary household. The theories are more attractive than reliable. Important though the Vestals may have been, they were no more than a single exception to the general exclusion of women from public positions of authority or power in the public life of Rome. Some women in the late Republic and early Empire did achieve personal power and influence, but this did not change the basic rules by which social institutions operated. If you are a Vestal virgin, your lifespan is dependent on the relative period of peace that your city enjoys. Otherwise being fired, terminated, and buried at the limit of the city is not an attractive prospect. Roman and Greek mythology may have given women important roles in their godhoods, since we have Athena, Demeter, Juno, and Aprodite, but the important chief position is always to the man- Jupiter or Zeus. For the world’s contemporary chief religions: Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and the Confucian credos have directed that it is the primary duty of women to be obedient and devoted. The laws that enforce them are based on the existing religious and cultural belief systems and their derivations. When women are physically disfigured through foot binding and genital mutilation society, it is in compliance to tradition. How do these disfigurements served any purpose to the woman or the man? There have been disagreements as to the reason why footbinding has existed for a long time in China. Patricia Ebrey (Buckley)posits the following: Footbinding was an alteration of the body that changed everything about a woman’s physical being. Because the ideal upper-class man was by Song times a relatively subdued and refined figure, he might seem effeminate unless women could be made even more delicate, reticent, and stationary. What better than tiny feet to accomplish this? For the footbound Chinese woman, the debilitation confined her to the home and reinforced her role as the husband’s sole possession. Refinement and being subdued is no excuse for this abominable act. Female genital mutilation has been a tradition of many African tribal societies. It is a female circumcision done to prepare a young girl for marriage. This is a very unhygienic and therefore a very dangerous practice. Supposedly, mutilation ensures that the woman do not go astray since that part of her that makes her commit a sin has been removed. This inculcates a guilty feeling to the girls mind and reinforces the belief that women are morally weaker and therefore needed to be put in their position of low esteem. Such are the heavy prices that woman has to pay for being a woman. Gladly, their being widespread is confined in the past. Religion, myths, and our beliefs systems favor the man and ensure his dominance over the woman. The erstwhile Taliban regime of Afghanistan is the contemporary extreme believer of this. Under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan at the beginning of the twenty-first century, for example, punishment for noncompliance with brutally extreme restrictions on women’s appearance and behavior included public flogging and execution. Compulsion, however, is not the only or even necessarily the most effective means for encouraging women to subscribe to femininity norms. Social rewards and personal satisfaction are also motivators. Piety is its own reward for a woman of any faith who believes she is behaving in accordance with divine will. Depending on how she interprets her faith, a contemporary Muslim woman may thus signal her femininity and her piety by choosing to wear the veil whether she lives under a theocratic or a secular political system. Her choice to veil may be reinforced by additional rewards, such as greater respect and personal autonomy accorded to her by her family and the local Muslim community (Hoodfar and Hoodfar). If you are publicly flogged for wearing a knee-length dress, it is not time to fire your dressmaker it is appropriate to question if the punishment is commensurate with the offense. If jihadists believed that bombing innocent civilians will ensure them heavenly virgins, what will women suicide bombers get? Making a distortion of a religious belief by subordinating women as men’s rewards acquits women from suspicion of establishing that belief. The Judeo-Christian belief is not spared from instilling guilty feeling and low-esteem to women. Consider this passage from Numbers 5:30: . . . or when feelings of jealousy come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to make her stand before the LORD and is to apply this entire law to her. The operative word her is â€Å"suspicion†. If you are suspected by your husband of having been unfaithful, you will be treated in the same manner as those proven to be guilty of the same. This could be a Damocles sword hanging over the head of the woman as she is proven once again to be not having the same rights as the man. What do you expect when your subsidiary position was ensured during creation when you were drawn from the rib of Adam. Children of Eve have borne their guilt when the first woman caused the man to transgress the law of God by eating that forsaken fruit. The woman may blame the snake who had scurried away but she had to stay by her man. This guilty feeling has always been foisted to the woman since paradise was lost. In the same vein that the Nazis annihilated the Jews for having caused the crucifixation of the Christ. In the Old Testament, having the same blood does not ensure the needed affection and respect; nothing is more abominable than the story of Lot who offered his two virgin daughters to the unruly crowd who wanted to sodomize guests. Ge. 19:5 They called to Lot, â€Å"Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them. † Ge. 19:6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him Ge. 19:7 and said, â€Å"No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. Ge. 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof. † If biblical characters and the Mosaic Law subordinate women to men, you cannot expect a different perspective from the society where these belief systems are integrated. When Jewish and Muslim men became polygamous, nothing is wrong about it, but when otherwise you can surely expect a stoning. In some parts of part of Tibet, polyandry is not frowned up, but Tibet is a very small country whose religious influence is confined within its small borders. Hindu Universe, an internet website explained that in Hinduism the religious root of women’s oppression stems from the belief that the son and daughter are not inherently equal. Though many sages argued that since both come from the father’s body, there is no difference between the two, ritual status of the son is higher. Perhaps this belief that â€Å"if a man’s vitality is greater then a son would be produced, but if a woman’s vitality is greater then a daughter would be produced† is also responsible. Men looked upon their sons â€Å"as mirrors of the father†. A son therefore conducts the funeral ceremony of the parents. Though in absence of a son, a daughter can also perform them, it is only in absence of a brother. A daughter is seen as belonging ultimately not to her father’s family, but to her husband’s. So the first thing that must be done is to remove this idea that a son is more value and that daughters are born to go to another’s house. Conclusion There is something wrong with the way women were manipulated and controlled in the past apparently in compliance with the written and traditional beliefs. If this was not so, widespread women empowerment at present would not have been possible. The United Nations’ Millennium Declaration pledges explicitly â€Å"to combat all forms of violence against women and to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (Waldorf)†. And it further recognizes the importance of promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment as an effective pathway for combating poverty, hunger and disease and for stimulating truly sustainable development. Such declaration does not ensure that manipulation and control of women will cease in some corners of the world. Yet this global consensus is an indication that indeed misconceptions about gender roles are existing and should therefore be corrected. If this is a violation of Judeo-Christian, Hindu, Islamic, and other religious precepts, why then had this been adopted by many countries who had practiced the belief systems based on these religions? Why the shift to expanding women roles and even placing them in positions of leaderships in many countries? We can only conclude that this is an acceptance of women having been contained for so long. This is a silent acquiescence that indeed the forefathers and not the foremothers may have treated the children of Eve unjustly. References Buckley, Patricia. The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period. Berkeley: University of California, 1993. Hinnels, John R. Ed. A Handbook of ancient Religions. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Hoodfar, Homa and Homa Hoodfar. More Than Clothing:Veiling as an Adaptive Strategy. Toronto: Women’s Press, 203. King, Ursula. Religion and Gender: Embedded Patterns, Interwoven Frameworks. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995. The Ages Digital Library. The Holy Bible. Albany: Ages Software, 1996. Waldorf, Lee. Pathway to Gender Equality. United Nations Fund for Women, n. d.

Radon essays

Radon essays Radon is an element that is on the periodic table of elements. It is a member of the family called the noble gases, which is group number 18. Radon is a gas. It is a gas at 298 k. it is the heaviest known mononuclear gas at that temperature. Radon is also colorless. When it is cooled below the freezing point, radon exhibits a brilliant phosphorescence, which becomes yellow as the temperature is lowered. At the temperature of liquid air it is sort of an orangish-red. The noble gases can be found on the very right side of the periodic table of elements. Radon has been around for quite some time. Radon comes from the element radium, which is derived from the element uranium. After radium has been 1,620 days old, radon forms 3.8 days afterwards. Radon is most often produced by the decay of radium in the crust of the earth. Radon was first discovered by a man named Fredrich Ernst Dorn. Mr. Dorn discovered this element around 1898. At first radon was not called radon, it was called niton. Niton coming from the Latin word nitens, meaning shining. It was only called radon up until about 1923. Now, lets talk about the properties that radon has. It is element number 86 on the periodic table of elements. This means that is has 86 protons, and also 86 electrons in a neutral state. The atomic mass of radon is 222.0176. now if you take the atomic mass, and round it to the nearest whole number, and subtract the atomic number, then you have the number of neutrons in radon, which is 136. The density of radon at 293 degrees Kelvin is .00973 g/cm cubed. Radon has a boiling point of 211.4 degrees Kelvin. It is a nonmetal, but rather a gas. The melting point, which is different from the boiling point, is 202 degrees Kelvin. To my knowledge, there is no data on the oxidation numbers for the element radon. Also, I was unable to find any information on any major compounds. I guess radon isnt really all that popular. Oh w ...

America Reacts to a Not Yet Forgotten War essays

America Reacts to a Not Yet Forgotten War essays The Korean War changed the way in which a variety of people from different backgrounds thought and felt about war and changed the methods used to fight wars. One of the major forces behind the Korean War was the United Nations. The United Nations is an organization set up shortly after WWII to provide collective security for its members. The United Nations allowed and allotted troops to aid South Korea in its struggle to maintain its power and legitimacy. The ruling made by the UN allowed troops from member countries including America to help out. It was called a police action. Much controversy surrounded the use of this term and its regulations. Although troops from many different countries were sent into South Korea throughout the war, over 90% were American (Danzer et al. 775). Thousands of American lives were lost in this great war as well as billions of American dollars. The conflict on which this war was based is that of communism versus non-communism. South Korea was a non- co mmunist state while North Korea was communist. The spread of communism was a threat worldwide, and many countries including America objected to the idea. The Red Scare in America sprang from this war and its sister "The Cold War" ( Nash 79). The instigation of this war was made by troops from North Korea attacking South Korea. These two very differently ruled states were divided along a temporary border at the 38th parallel. After these first attacks on South Korea, it became obvious that military help was needed by South Korea. This is when the United States jumped in and decided to help. President Harry Truman supported the declaration made by the UN and commited us troops without first consulting and gaining approval of congress. Thus, his actions could not be classified as declaring war. They were instead referred to as "police actions under the UN." By sending troops to Korea, Truman commited his country to limited war. The limited war was not well ...

Absolute Error or Absolute Uncertainty Definition

Absolute Error or Absolute Uncertainty Definition Absolute error or absolute uncertainty is the uncertainty in a measurement, which is expressed using the relevant units. Also,  absolute error may be used to express the inaccuracy in a measurement. Absolute error may be called approximation error. Absolute error is the difference between a measurement and a true value: E |x0 - x| Where E is absolute error, x0 is the measured value and x is the true or actual value Why Is There Error? Error is not a mistake. It simply reflects the limitations of measurement instruments. For example, if you use a ruler to measure a length, each tic on the ruler has a width. If a distance falls between marks on the ruler, you need to estimate whether the distance is closer to one mark than the other and by how much. This is error. The same measurement may be taken multiple times to gauge the range of the error. Absolute Error Example If a measurement is recorded to be 1.12 and the true value is known to be 1.00 then the absolute error is 1.12 - 1.00 0.12. If the mass of an object is measured three times with values recorded to be 1.00 g, 0.95 g, and 1.05 g, then the absolute error could be expressed as /- 0.05 g.

A perfect job for a finance major Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A perfect job for a finance major - Essay Example Since these activities are much needed in the current business society, the need of financial planner remains the high in all seasons. In addition, the job pays off even during the recession or financial crisis because financial planners are much needed for getting out the state of turmoil. The tasks that are expected from a financial planner begin from procedural classification of finance over the year. A strategy is designed in order to make sure that financial assets are providing enough profit that consumption rate is settled. A financial planner needs keep updated about information flow so that the concerned authorities are able to make expected moves. The situation of the finances should be effectively communicated to the client by a financial planner. The demand of financial planner is very high in different regions of the world, especially, in Australia, Canada and Europe. Since the need of financial planner remains high, the compensation is also high round the year providing more and more chances for financial planners to experience growth

Marketing for Events Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Marketing for Events - Coursework Example ined by expertise, market statements and the added worth.1 the customer basis has to be defined clearly and the intent of the company in meeting the customers’ requirements. For Samsung to emerge top in the smartphone market it needs to focus on its key strengths and core company networks. Currently Samsung is the top manufacturer of smartphones in Europe. The tallied figures from 2012 revealed Samsung’s share of the market at 32.3% after overtaking Nokia. Samsung has set goals to attain by the year 2020 and it is reflected in its vision statement ‘Inspire the world, create the future.’ Taking focus on its key strength: creative solutions, new technologies and innovative products. In order for Samsung to reach its $400 billion revenue goal by the year 2020, there are three strategic moves that must come into play. They include: creativity, partnership and talent. Being an innovation leader is essential to Samsung, enough time has been spent being an innovation follower.2 This refers to the blend of product, evaluating, advertising and distribution approaches meant to satisfy exchange within the target market.3 the marketing mix incorporates the four Ps. Product, price promotion, and place. Over the past years, Samsung products have proven to be of standard quality in terms of performance. Choosing to market on this in the development of new products is a brilliant strategy because there is the quality assurance that the customers have. This is a strong hold especially in the Smartphone products. In the launching of the galaxy S4, there is no doubt that the customers are expecting a high performance quality device. Product portfolio is therefore a strongpoint that Samsung can boast of. With the wide range of products that Samsung has to offer, each commodity is accompanied by a unique pricing strategy. Taking into consideration at the complexity of this matter, price change due to outside change should be expected and therefore dealt with at the initial

Bill of Rights Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Bill of Rights Paper - Essay Example Constitution or more commonly the "Bill of Rights" should always be applied by government agencies that either dispense justice or ensure the security of the nation. The first amendment states that a person's beliefs and religion are to be respected. The Bill of Rights specifically states that there would be no law against the practice of any particular religious belief, custom as well as the establishment of any religious order. The Bill of rights also specifically states that any person is entitled to freedom of speech as well as the right to assemble and ask for petitions from the Government for any grievances made ("The US Constitution Online", 2006). This amendment applies as long as the person is of legal age and he or she does not harm any other person. The U.S. government treats the first amendment as one of the most important amendments made as it is believed by the administration that this will set an example to other countries in the provision of freedom and liberty regarding a person's belief and customs. ("National Security", 2006). This amendment treats religion as a free choice granting a person the freedom to join and revere a re ligious group or not. With this, the government's plans to line in religious practice alongside peace and justice will lead the way to a more harmonious existence between the government and the populace. There are a multitude of religions that are established in the United States and U.S. citizens enjoy much freedom to choose their religion given that they are already of legal age. They may also choose not to join any religious group or order. In universities and other institutions, religion is not compulsory for students and employees thus freeing people from the pressures of religion on what they can and cannot do in their lives. The latest current U.S. government administration emphasized the creation of laws that are centered for the enrichment of personal honor and the protection of human rights which includes freedom of the press, freedom to choose religions, exercise of conscience and religious assembly and association (National Security Strategy", 2006). The fourth amendment The privacy of a person is the main focus of the fourth amendment of the Bill of Rights. In this section of the Bill of Rights, people have the right to secure anything (papers, personal effects and other personal property) in their private residences. Their properties are thus protected under law against any unauthorized searches and seizures. Search warrants are only issued when violations are made especially regarding the possession of illegal goods and substances. Seizure of illegal goods and substances will only commence when a sworn affidavit is made against the owners but until it has been proven, any residence could be monitored in accordance with the law. ("The US Constitution Online", 2006). Privacy has always been regarded as a major issue not only by the Law but by the citizens themselves. Every person is entitled to his or her own privacy and to intrude or breach someone's privacy only entails trouble. Although this is the case most of the time, the government can somet imes break this law under dire circumstances especially when the whole country is

W6 D Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

W6 D - Assignment Example (â€Å"UN, United Nations†, n.d.) The UDHR also, incidentally, is a part of the International Bill of Human Rights, which encompasses several other instruments that work simultaneously in upholding the fundamental rights of individuals regardless of their legal status. Within the ambit of a globalising world, there have been several instances when nation-states, whether collectively or individually, whether by agreement or otherwise, have stepped in to resolve issues of rampant human rights abuses in tyrannical dictatorships and in instances of racial genocides. Recent examples include the NATO intervening in Libya in 2011to stop its long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi from committing such atrocities; the stepping in of the United Nations’ Peace Keeping Forces in Congo, Kosovo, Liberia and Sudan. These are just a few examples when the concept of â€Å"humanitarian intervention† as enshrined in the UN Charter as an exception to general non-intervention gained publi c light and scrutiny. What this means is that, as a general rule, nation-states are prohibited from interfering in the domestic affairs of other states, except when such an intervention is on humanitarian grounds and is justified by its objective of putting a stop to instances of rampant human rights violations occurring in the state. The evolution of this widely agreed, albeit contentious, law can be said to have been triggered by the Nazi pogroms against the Jews. The collective conscience of the world was shocked as the realization dawned on them that while an attempt was made at exterminating a whole race of people, other people of the world chose to look the other way. That should not be allowed to pass ever again. After it has been established with reasonable agreement amongst jurists that an individual is a subject of international law, as opposed to the object of it, the hierarchical position of importance given to its subjects faced a dynamic change. At this juncture, uphol ding the rights of individual attention received a great fillip at the international level, even at the expense of the rights of a nation-state. This can be said to be a gift of the French and American Revolutions and general enlightenment in the body of laws as to the status of individuals. While, on the one hand, slavery, discrimination and other forms of subjugating people were outlawed, states began to be tasked with a greater burden of international accountability with respect to any violations thereof (â€Å"UN Criticized for Using Private Security Firms†, n.d.). Whether or not an intervention is legitimate and in the interest of upholding international justice remains a question with tenuous answers. There is a wide array of justifications provided by intervening states and even more so by states that have been accused of carrying on these violations. There are different questions: whether such an intervention has been sanctioned by the Security Council or the General Assembly of the UN, whether such an intervention was indeed necessitated by the scale of such violations, whether a proportionate amount of force was used, and whether there exist any ulterior motives or vested interests lying at the

The Effects of Cocaine on Behavior Research Paper

The Effects of Cocaine on Behavior - Research Paper Example Scientific studies have discovered that the cause of this euphoria is due to the prevention of a neurotransmitter known as serotonin from being reabsorbed by the neuron that released it, known as the presynaptic neuron. The way that cocaine works is that it stops the reuptake of a number of neurotransmitters, for example, epinephrine and norepinephrine, causing them to stay in the individuals synapses for a longer period of time and exciting the sympathetic nervous system in the process (Yaffe, Briggs & Freeman, 2008). The excitement of the sympathetic nervous system brings about a stress response which results in the euphoria that is experienced by the individual. Though the euphoria that is experienced by the user may be enjoyable during that moment in time, the end results are in no way healthy for the individual, and the temporary pleasure that is experienced is not worth the long term effects that the person risks suffering (Doweiko, 2008).There are numerous effects that the use of cocaine has on an individual, and these effects can be classified into two categories, namely immediate and long term effects. Immediate effects refer to the reactions that occur right after one uses the drugs while the long term effects refer the responses that a person may have further down the line as a result of using the drug for a lengthy period of time (Yaffe, Briggs & Freeman, 2008). Both effects (immediate and long term) influence the behavior of the user, and differences can be seen in their actions and personality.

W6 D Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

W6 D - Assignment Example (â€Å"UN, United Nations†, n.d.) The UDHR also, incidentally, is a part of the International Bill of Human Rights, which encompasses several other instruments that work simultaneously in upholding the fundamental rights of individuals regardless of their legal status. Within the ambit of a globalising world, there have been several instances when nation-states, whether collectively or individually, whether by agreement or otherwise, have stepped in to resolve issues of rampant human rights abuses in tyrannical dictatorships and in instances of racial genocides. Recent examples include the NATO intervening in Libya in 2011to stop its long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi from committing such atrocities; the stepping in of the United Nations’ Peace Keeping Forces in Congo, Kosovo, Liberia and Sudan. These are just a few examples when the concept of â€Å"humanitarian intervention† as enshrined in the UN Charter as an exception to general non-intervention gained publi c light and scrutiny. What this means is that, as a general rule, nation-states are prohibited from interfering in the domestic affairs of other states, except when such an intervention is on humanitarian grounds and is justified by its objective of putting a stop to instances of rampant human rights violations occurring in the state. The evolution of this widely agreed, albeit contentious, law can be said to have been triggered by the Nazi pogroms against the Jews. The collective conscience of the world was shocked as the realization dawned on them that while an attempt was made at exterminating a whole race of people, other people of the world chose to look the other way. That should not be allowed to pass ever again. After it has been established with reasonable agreement amongst jurists that an individual is a subject of international law, as opposed to the object of it, the hierarchical position of importance given to its subjects faced a dynamic change. At this juncture, uphol ding the rights of individual attention received a great fillip at the international level, even at the expense of the rights of a nation-state. This can be said to be a gift of the French and American Revolutions and general enlightenment in the body of laws as to the status of individuals. While, on the one hand, slavery, discrimination and other forms of subjugating people were outlawed, states began to be tasked with a greater burden of international accountability with respect to any violations thereof (â€Å"UN Criticized for Using Private Security Firms†, n.d.). Whether or not an intervention is legitimate and in the interest of upholding international justice remains a question with tenuous answers. There is a wide array of justifications provided by intervening states and even more so by states that have been accused of carrying on these violations. There are different questions: whether such an intervention has been sanctioned by the Security Council or the General Assembly of the UN, whether such an intervention was indeed necessitated by the scale of such violations, whether a proportionate amount of force was used, and whether there exist any ulterior motives or vested interests lying at the

HRM SCENARIOS ASSIGMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

HRM SCENARIOS ASSIGMENT - Essay Example Since then, Tesco has come a long way and has faced many changes in its corporate strategy. There are certain features of Tesco PLC which help in its differentiation from other retail giants. First is its 'inclusive offer' which has helped Tesco to appeal to all segments of markets thereby attracting customers from all groups of incomes- upper, medium and low and hence make it a one-stop shop for a an array of commodities. Second, Tesco has propagated use of its 'own-brand products' and thereby made the best of efforts to overcome reluctance faced by customer in purchasing own-brands, as they are considered to garner more profits for a supermarket. Thirdly, one of the key features of Tesco's policy is 'Customer Focus' which is put into effect by shifting focus from 'maximization of shareholder value' to have an unambiguous focus on customer service as the top aim of the company, thereby also making higher profits. Home Market- Tesco focuses on the core UK business which involves grocery retailing in its home market. It is also looking at expanding by making a move into the convenience-store sector which is an idea otherwise shunned by supermarkets. Non-food business- In 2006, Tesco had successfully managed to become the largest non-food retailer in the UK. ... Retailing services- Going one step further, Tesco is also into services like personal finance, telecoms, and other utilities. It has managed to fight competition in these fields by entering into joint ventures with the big players thereby increasing its customer base and brand strength. International - In 1994, Tesco started to expand internationally and by February 2006 nearly a quarter of its sales were a result of its international operations. Its major developing markets are present in Central Europe, Far East and the United States. Future Scenario-1 The centre point of this future scenario is based on the assumption that Asda, the second biggest retail store in U.K. and a subsidiary of Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retail store, takes over Tesco. At present Tesco is the lading retail store in U.K. with a market share of about 30.6%, more than double as that of its closest competitor Asda. Supermarket Market Share (%) Tesco 30.6 Asda 16.6 Sainsbury's 16.3 Morrison's 11.1 Somerfield 5.4 Waitrose 3.7 Iceland 1.8 Source: TNS (2006) If Tesco looses out its market share to Asda ,owing to critical policy changes by Asda then in the face of such competition, Tesco would have to critically examine its priorities and hold on to its customer base. According to extrapolation of the current scenario, the probability of such a case to take place is very less. However, if Wal-mart focuses more on the functioning of Asda giving out its necessary skills and experience, this could happen in a matter of 5-7 years. HRM implications This would mean critical changes in the HR management of Tesco. It would have to undertake various measures in order to fight the

Economics - Supply and Demand of Beef in the United States Essay Example for Free

Economics Supply and Demand of Beef in the United States Essay Imagine a life with no hamburger or milk. How would this make you feel? Do you think you would be able to survive? I know I wouldn’t be able to. Both milk and red meat are important in a daily diet. These two items come from cattle. Cattle and beef in general are a necessity to everyday living. â€Å"The importance of beef cattle in the agriculture of this country rests chiefly upon their ability to convert coarse forage, corn, grass, and other products of the land, wither unfit or not wanted for human consumption, into a valuable and much-desired food. Lets face it, we aren’t going to be eating grass or grain pellets anytime soon. Cattle eat grain pellets, grass, forage, and other stuff that humans don’t consume. The cow has a much more desirable flavor inside. Can you picture now eating a juicy prime rib sandwich? This is just one of the many items a cow produces. Local farmers in rural communities are working hard to produce the high demands for beef. â€Å"Hamburger meat from one steer would equal 720 quarter-pound hamburgers, enough for a family of four to enjoy hamburgers each day for nearly six months. They are looking ways to produce higher quality beef. The cattle producers are now artificially inseminating the cattle with better genetics to help make the quality of beef higher. According to Present and Future Applications of DNA Technologies to Improve Beef Production, substantial improvements in production efficiency and quality of beef and dairy products have been made possible through manipulation of bov ine genetics. Milk comes from cows and that’s what gives you strong bones and lower carbohydrates which are essential for everyone’s daily diet. Also beef is the number one source of zinc in the human diet. The meat is filled with nutrients that help your body get what it needs to stay healthy. It is an excellent way to keep your immune system going strong and not feeling sick, weak, or tired all the time. Being healthy not only makes you look better on the outside, but also on the inside. Being healthy helps with depression, and eating red meat and getting the essential nutrients helps with all of this. Being a cattle raiser myself, I know that there are many factors to consider when producing the cattle that produce the meat. Many people say that cows are wasting the land and that their waste is filling up the land space and causing the manure to destroy the land. This is false. The manure that the cow lets out is extremely vital to the pasture. It is a great fertilizer and gives the nutrients that land needs most. This helps with growing crops as well as flowers and plants.

Filamentous DNA Phages Single Stranded RNA Phages

Filamentous DNA Phages Single Stranded RNA Phages INTRODUCTION: Bacteriophages are one of the most widely studied organisms than that of bacteria and any other living organism. They are mainly used in that of molecular biology studies, because of lesser complexity they are usually preferred over other organism. A bateriophage is a bacterial parasite which can neither grow or replicate on its own but can do so within a given organism. The major success of bacteriophage truly depends upon the genetic element which is usually packed within the capsid. the genetic element can either be a single stranded or double stranded linear,circular DNA /RNA. The filamentous bacteriophages are single stranded DNA phages about 5.5nm in diameter and they usually are present in a ring like form. They show the presence of about 10000 nucleotide and they usually harbour in Gram negative host. They usually adsorb on the tail like component called sex pilus which is responsible for the transmission of plasmids. The major properties of these virus are that it does not harm the host. The other general properties of filamentous DNA phages are as follows: They can be grown in extremely high titre because they do not lyse the cells. They are extremely small in size and they can mainly be studied and used in molecular biology experiments. It is the only virus which has been crystallized for the analysis using x-ray diffraction and a good model for studying mutations. The interaction between the host and the virus can be used as a model for studying characteristics property of oncogenic virus. Three filamentous E.coli phages i.e M13,fd, f1 have been carefully studied and each of them have a life cycle similar to that à ¢Ã‚ ±Ã‚ ·174. M13 bacteriophage: M13 is a filamentous bacteriophage it has circular ssDNA. It contains about 6407 nucleotides. It contains major coat protein P8 and it capped with 5 minor protein P9,P6,P3.P3 protein attaches to the tip of the pilus E.coli. They are non-lethal and they form turbid plaques in Ec.oli they bring about reduction in the cell growth process. They are also used for structural studies. The phage particles: The phage is assembled by that of 50 amino acids protein called p8.It takes about 2700 copies of p8 to make about the coat 90 nm long.It has been seen that is quite flexible .Other distinct proteins which are usually present P9 mainly comprises about 5 copies. P7 p9 are usually seen in micrographs they are extremely small in size containing about 32-33 amono acids.The other end of the phage particles contain about 5 copies of the surface exposed p3and less exposed accessory protein p6.They form a rounded tip and the p6 is the the final protein to interact with the E.coli host during invasion. Phage life cycle: The filament phage uses the F pilus to infect E.coli with the M 13 tip containing the TolA protein on bacterial pilus. The phage genome is transferred to the cytoplasm of E.coli where the resident protein convert single stranded DNA genome to a double stranded replicative form(RF).This DNA acts like a template for the expression of phage gene. The second phase mainly involves amplification of the genome p2 it nicks the double strand form of the genome to initiate the replication of strand without which no replication occurs. Host enzymes replicate the(+) strand resulting in more copies of dsDNA.p5 competes with ds DNA formation by sequestering copies of the (+) stranded DNA into a protein/DNA complex designed to pack recovery phages. Another important protein p10 is important for regulating the number of ds genome in the bacterial host without which no strand an accommodate .Phage maturation requires p4 translational restart p11.Multiple copies of p4 assemble in outer membrane into a table barrel shaped structure.A number of p1 and p11 5/6 copies each)assemble inside the inner bacterial membrane.p1 p11 ans p4 together they are responsible for the release of mature phage. REPLICATION IN M13: Replication in m13 can be explained as follows; Viral (+) strand DNA enterscytoplasm Complementary (-) strandis synthesized by bacterial enzymes DNA Gyrase, atype II topoisomerase, acts ondouble-stranded DNAand catalyzes formation ofnegative supercoilsin double-stranded DNA Final product is parental replicative form (RF) DNA A phage protein, pII, nicks the (+) strand in the RF 3-hydroxyl acts as a primer in the creation of new viral strand pII circulizes displaced viral (+) strand DNA Pool of progeny double-stranded RF molecules produced Negative strand of RF is template of transcription mRNAs are translated into the phage proteins Phage proteins in the cytoplasm are pII, pX, and pV, and they are part of the replication process of DNA. The other phage proteins are synthesized and inserted into the cytoplasmic or outer membranes. pV dimers bind newly synthesized single-stranded DNA and prevent conversion to RF DNA RF DNA synthesis continues and amount of pV reaches critical concentration DNA replication switches to synthesis of single-stranded (+) viral DNA pV-DNA structures from about 800nm long and 8nm in diameter pV-DNA complex is substrate in phage assembly reaction. Research: SINGLE STRANDED RNA PHAGES: Single stranded RNA are found everywhere E. coli lives in the intestinal tract of man and animals. They can also be found in sewage samples .They are harmless creature in case of humans.RNA phages are tailless, icosahedron like that of à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢174 and it mainly involves E. coli phages f2,R17,MS-2 QÃŽ ². The RNA is a linear single stranded molecule having about 3600 nucleotides it contains 3 genes encoding a coat protein an attachment protein (A) and a RNA replicase. The RNA molecule acts both like a template and also like an mRNA so they do not possess a DNA polymerase and the regulation occurs at the translational level. They have large burst size and they form huge crystalline arrays within each bacterium. Cell lysis usually takes place at a time ranging from 30-60 minutes after infection. Virus structure: Virions contain about 180 copies of the coat protein arranged in a T=3 icosahedral shell that encloses THE RNA. alloleviviruses contain about 15 copies of the read through protein.the encapsidated RNA is resistant to ribonuclease treatment.The damaged virion are exposed to RNAase activity.The structures have been resolved by x-ray diffraction methods Life cycle of RNA PHAGE: ENTRY: Upon entry the ribosome they usually attach to the CP gene which is the centremost gene of the RNA molecule. TRANSLATION : The stem and loop structures in RNA block the ribosomal binding sites of the A and the Rep proteins. The translation of the CP gene opens the binding site of the Rep proteins .Both proteins are made but the increasing amounts of the CP proteins bind to the rep site and block translation of the rep gene. About 2 x 10 copies are needed as structural components whereas replicase is needed only in catalytic amounts. Replication of the phage RNA:The QÃŽ ²has a tetramer consisting of one Rep molecule with about three proteins-EF-Ts EF-Tutranslation factors needed for the placement of charged TrnaMOLECULES Synthesis of A protein: The binding site for the A protein is never available on the free(+)strand. The replication begins at the 3’teerminus close to the A gene. After synthesis of the (+) strand begind there is a brief period when the protein A gets translated. The A number is maintained and it is equal to the number of the (+) strand .it is believed that the A protein bring about the interaction of the RNA with the CP molecules PARTICLE ASSEMBLY: THE CP PROTEIN MOLE CULES spontaneously aggregate around the newly synthesized (+) strand and form an icosahedral shell. Cell lysis: Once about 10000 phages are formed the cell undergoes lysis and no lytic enzymes are left behind ,the mechanism still remains unknown. The QÃŽ ² phage: It is an RNA virus affecting E.coli. Contains a positive sense single strand RNA. It is one of the smallest known viruses measuring about 24 nm in diameter. Its icosahedral capsid consists of about 180 copies of the same protein. The strands acts like that of an mRNA and it also acts like a template for the replication of a complimentary strand. REFERENCES: Filamentous Bacterial Viruses(BACTERIOLOGICAL REVIEWS JUNE 1969 pg 177-209.ASM PRESS THE BACTERIOPHAGES 2ND ,BY CALENDER EDITION OXFORD PRESS MOLECULAR BIOLOGY BY FREIFIELDER FROM THE WEB

Raves And Drugs Essay -- essays research papers

Generally people associate raves(Underground Techno parties) with designer drugs like Ecstasy(MDMA), Speed(amphetamine) and other acids like LSD. These drugs are called the Techno Drugs for that reason and most of the time have uplifting and sensatory effects. To understand more clearly the relationship between the raves and these drugs, we first have to understand the philosophy behind the Techno era, and a little about the music. â€Å"Techno, can lift the spirit and become a new world of freedom and peace"(D'Vox Magazine The first electronic music Magazine). Most raves are covered with propaganda about freedom, peace, spirituality and the like. It is no surprise why teens use these specific drugs at raves. "The effects of E, are like a journey to another world, a world of happiness, love and euphoria" (Ecstasy and Mental Health: Nerves or neurosis by Dr. Karl Jansen) These ravers, have many reasons to take E, for example " The music lends itself to the intake of drugs, drugs are common in youth culture, teens need energy to dance all night, the rave scene is bombarded with all kinds of E" (Drug Information Database, www.pharmlink.org/designer/index.html/). "The media has given E and the rave scene a bad reputation, since 30 years ago music has been greatly united with drugs. For example Weed and Rock in the 60's and acid in the 70's." (E for Ecstasy by Nicolas Saunders, ch.1) Ecstasy is just a hard and dangerous as weed, "a drug that 1 out of every 3 highschool students in the American population have had experiences with." (Drug Information Database, www.pharmlink.org/stats/index/main.html/) "Why is E judged so harshly when the ecstasy related deaths can not compare with those related with legal drugs just like tabacco and alcohol." (E for Ecstasy by Nicolas Saunders, ch.2) Of course the media has a lot to do with it, the media takes all the negative effects and doesn't include the positive ones. " ; 29 volunteers where asked to assist Dr. Green, prominent doctor in charge of studies for the BMJ (British Medical Journal), in a study of the effects of E." (Readers Digest article by Russell Twisk editor-in-chief) "Out of those 29 volunteers they all experienced, unpleasant experiences such as nausea, sweating and stiffing" (Readers Digest by Russell Twisk). " Although the voluntee... ... is so complex as to completely determine if E has affected the toxicity in long term users, I believe that it does decrease the level of serotonin in the brain, without destroying serotorgenic axons." (Ecstasy: a human neurotoxin? Interview with Dr. O'callaghan). There have been many studies, some of them trying to prove that E is in fact a neurotoxin and those trying to prove it's not, up to now both sides cannot come up with solid answers to the subject. It is hard to say that all ravers are on E, but certain the majority of them are. " If a raver is not E at a rave, Techno has the same properties (although much less stronger) as some of those drugs. Techno is played incredibly loud and raves have incredible lights that cause euphoria in the most sober of minds". (Techno & Ecstasy: Music and Drugs in the year 2000, Times Magazine by Nicolas Saunders) Although Ecstasy is illegal in every country in the world, I think it will be impossible to stop ravers and t he production of E in underground labs. Since Techno is becoming more popular around teenagers, therefore E is also becoming more and more popular around the clubbing and raving scenes. Word Count: 1337

Time Management Research Strategy Paper

Time Management Research Strategy Paper At first, I thought the example given; â€Å"Time Management† was not a good example to use for my paper. I didn’t really [Clearer writing suggestion–â€Å"real† or â€Å"really† means â€Å"existing in actuality†Ã¢â‚¬â€œit adds little to the meaning (and using it to mean â€Å"big,† â€Å"very,† or â€Å"genuine† is slang); replace it with a more expressive word] feel like I have an issue managing time, after all I complete my task about ninety [Express numbers higher than nine in digits (when not the first word in the sentence)] -nine percent of the time and normally finish on or ahead of schedule. However, when I stopped to look at what I complete I was surprised [The passive voice is a form of â€Å"be† (was) and a participle (surprised). Over-use of the passive voice can make paragraphs tedious to read and officious. Try to use the active voice most often, e. g. , the student completed the paper on time. The passive voice version–The paper was completed on time by the student–See eCampus>CWE>Tutorials & Guides>Grammar & Writing Guides>Active & passive voice] at my findings. I found that I have to some degree, mentally categorized my task. What I mean by this is that I have, without thinking about it, categorized my task into two separate groups: Work and personal. The first, being my primary group is the tasks related to my job. This group boasts has a very high completion rate and quality of work on these tasks is checked [Passive voice] by my employer as well and then communicated to me. Based on task tracking I have about a ninety [Express numbers higher than nine in digits (when not the first word in the sentence)] -eight percent completion rate and based on feedback from my employer I know the quality of my work is very high as well. Now, the second category is my personal life category and my after examining it, I found that I don’t have results anywhere near my what I have in my job related category. My personal category breaks down into two groups as well: The have to be done now [Clearer writing suggestion–â€Å"Now† is a tricky concept. If the sentence is in the past tense, it probably should be rendered as â€Å"then. † If not, and unless you are making a philosophical statement (Now is the time to improve myself) or mean â€Å"as of the present time† (the business is now known as Ajax Corporation), onsider removing â€Å"now†Ã¢â‚¬â€œbecause this is being read after the time you wrote it, your â€Å"now† is in the past] and the can wait until later groups. I find that when I leave work, I leave a task-oriented environment and enter an environment of relaxation and enjoyment. This environment of less critical tasks allows the task to be ignored [Passive voice] until they can’t be ignored [Passive voice] any longer, forcing some sort of action. Now in review of this method, the completion rate is not the only item to score poorly, the quality of the work suffers tremendously as well. Project oriented tasks that have some sort of visible outcome; such as [Check word choice: â€Å"such as† refers to things that are exactly what you are discussing; â€Å"like† means something similar to what you are discussing] laying tile in a walkway get [Doctoral rule (although good advice for any academic writer)–â€Å"get† is informal English and can mean many things; in academic writing, use forms of â€Å"arrive at,† â€Å"can,† â€Å"could†, â€Å"grows,† â€Å"is able to,† etc. ] completed in a timely manner and with a much higher level of quality. My goal for this research paper is to develop a strategy for improving my time management skills for my personal category. With the proper time management skills I believe the quality of work on these tasks will also rise exponentially. My goal requires information on time management tools, prioritization and [Check punctuation–insert a comma before this word if this is the last in a list of more than two–or if it begins a new clause] organization. I want to gather information from credible sources, so I will be looking for information from reputable time management coaches. Additionally I need to answer the following questions: â€Å"How can I improve my prioritization skills? What organization tools are there for time management? and â€Å"What are the keys to managing your time? † I will use the Internet for my research because it can be accessed 24/7 and reference any books that are available through â€Å"University of Phoenix† online library. I will place the information retrieved into two categories, relevant and non-relevant. Discarding the irrelevant data and sorting the relevant into categories that fit the questions that I have asked and a category for the questions that may be applicable which [Use â€Å"that† for a restrictive phrase (or place a comma before â€Å"which†)] I did not ask. I will then analyze the data, re-categorizing if needed, examine the evidence of recommendations, determining whether the information is fact or opinion and if it is opinion is it supported [Passive voice] by any facts. I will make comparisons to similar information identify any themes or ideas and align the information with other information retrieved. Then I will examine perspectives and assumptions. By determining what perspectives the author [If this means yourself, avoid referring to yourself in the third person; if this is a personal account, use the first person (I, me, my)] may have I will derive a better idea of what direction his information is coming from and better determine how applicable it is to my situation. Likewise, if the author has made or not made certain assumptions the information collected from this person may be applicable to my situation. There may also be a need to prove or disprove an assumption to determine just how relevant a certain piece of information is or for that matter how relevant a certain author is. I think it is important to examine my perspective as well as the author’s so that I can be more specific in my search for answers. As research progresses and more is learned [Passive voice] about time management, I will ask additional questions and look for examples of these ideas and tools played out in everyday life to ensure its suitable to me. The information must make sense and be adaptable to anyone looking to improve his or her time management skills, but I will also be looking for ideas and tools that fit my character and lifestyle. Once I have answered my questions, I will determine which tools recommended work best for my personality type, I will take my character and schedule into consideration then formulate a strategy that will be easily implemented [Passive voice] into my personal lifestyle. Once implemented I will track the completion of my tasks and determine my successful completion rate, then based on feedback from my family as well as myself I will determine if the quality of my work has improved as well. References Carter, C. , Bishop, J. , & Kravits, S. L. (2007). Keys to College Studying: Becoming an Active Thinker (2nd ed. ). : Pearson Prentice Hall.

Poetry Criticism Essay

?Write a critical appreciation of the poem INCENDIARY by Vernon Scannell. You should comment on theme, diction, tone and structure. An incendiary is a bomb which sets things on fire, which gets across the idea that the boy was like a dangerous weapon, ready to explode at any time. This poem is about a boy who sets a farm on fire in hope that he receives the attention he has been longing for. In the first line, the poet describes the boy to have a face â€Å"like pallid cheese†. This simile is depicts the boy to look quite sick and weak. We immediately feel pity and realize that the boy is uncared for. The poet also describes the boy to have â€Å"burnt-out little eyes† implying that, with reference to fire, his eyes have died out showing that he has lost hope. The fire was huge, boiling and all-consuming, as implied in this quote: â€Å"As brazen fierce and huge, as red and gold and zany yellow. † This suggests that the fire was a multitude of colours- â€Å"red, gold and zany yellow†. It was also bold, savage and extremely big- â€Å"Brazen, fierce and huge†. The word zany also suggests it being, uncontrollable or wild. The poet shows the extent of damage caused by the fire through the quote â€Å"spoiled three thousand guineas† worth of crops. The fact that he uses â€Å"guineas† could imply that the poem was set some time ago. Scannell portrays the scene as frightening and very damaging: â€Å"Is frightening- as a fact and a metaphor†. He describes the flames as â€Å"flame-fanged tigers†. This is a metaphor in which the flames are compared to tigers; wild animals which are perceived as viscous and ferocious. These large flames are said to be â€Å"roaring hungrily†. The use of the word â€Å"hungrily† implies that the flames are consuming while the use of the word â€Å"roaring† is an onomatopoeia showing that the fire was loud. The reader no longer feels a sense of pity towards the boy because he has caused so much irreversible damage. The feeling of hostility is heightened through this quote: â€Å"And frightening too that one small boy should set the sky on fire and choke the stars†. This use of personification portrays the image of the large amount of smoke rising so high that it blocks out the stars. This could possibly be another indication of lost hope as the light of the stars is no longer visible. The poet once again tries to make us feel pity for the boy: â€Å"Such skinny limbs and such a little heart which would have been content with one small kiss had there been anyone to offer this†. This quote once again introduces the theme of neglect. His â€Å"skinny limbs† show that he is malnourished. The boy is longing for â€Å"one warm kiss† which gives the reader an idea of his motives. He is probably seeking attention, in an effort to be loved. The poem doesn’t have a particular rhyme scheme however rhyming couplets appear three times throughout the poem, one of them appearing at the end. Like this, the poet emphasises specific lines in which he may want to be particularly powerful. When a poem ends in this way after not having much rhyme throughout, it can make it more emotionally moving. Due to the lack of punctuation and the effect of the rhyming couplets that appear, the tone is quite fast which possibly indicates the short amount of time in which the farm caught fire. It may also create a lively atmosphere to bring the energy of the fire to life. In this poem, Scannell uses an exaggerated but possible example of what a child may do when he or she is uncared for. Through this he tries to show us the consequences and dangers of neglecting children and the desperate measures they may turn to.

Managing Workforce Diversity Essay

When we say diversity this refers to differences within the organization. This includes gender or sexual orientation, nationality, physical condition, family status, religious orientation and cultural differences or cultural background. An organization or a company may have diversities on their employees as well as the culture itself. Many companies have done so much effort to embrace diversity however; there are still some who are not given equal treatment or being valued because of being different. This is maybe because of the impression that, anyone who is perceived as different is likely to have a difficult time contributing to company goals and experiencing personal growth. Most companies nowadays conduct diversity training to eliminate values, stereotypes and managerial practices that inhibit employees’ personal development and to allow employees to contribute to organizational goals regardless of being diversified. In managing diversity, involves creating an environment that allows all employees to contribute to organizational goals and experience personal growth. This environment includes access to job as well as fair and positive treatment to all employees. This is to provide an environment which allows employees to feel comfortable. This may require the company to change its culture to drive performance and enables employees in becoming a result oriented one. Diversity can enhance the performance of the company when the organization itself has an environment which promotes learning from diversity. Success of an organization through diversity requires it to be viewed as an opportunity for employees to learn from each other how to better accomplish their work, to be provided with a supportive and cooperative organizational culture, and be taught leadership and process skills that can facilitate effective team functioning. Managing Diversity through Adherence to Legislation Diversity can be managed through adhering to legislation. We have laws which protect people from discrimination either because of their diversity. Companies can definitely managed diversity by promoting or creating policies to protect the employees. In such cases, discrimination will be eliminated or abuse to such will be prevented. This will increase the morale of the  employees knowing that they are being cared for. But at some point, if merely adhering to employment laws may result to frustration leading to minorities and women leave the organization. This is due to adhering only and lack of giving more opportunities to these minorities. Managing Diversity through Diversity Training Program Diversity training refers to training designed to change employee attitudes about diversity and/or to help employees develop skills needed to work with a diverse workforce. To successfully manage a diverse workforce, companies need to ensure that Employees understand how their values and stereotypes influence their behavior toward people of a different gender, ethnicity, race or religion Employees gain an appreciation of cultural differences among themselves. Behaviors that isolate or intimidate minority group members improve. Below are some Diversity Training Programs which a company may conduct. Attitude Awareness and Change Programs – focus on increasing employees’ awareness of differences in cultural and ethnic background, physical characteristics that influence behavior towards others. Behavior-Based Programs – focus on changing the organizational policies and individual behaviors that inhibit employees’ personal growth and productivity. Cultural Immersion – refers to the process of sending employees directly into communities where they have to interact with persons from different cultures, races, and/or nationalities. Diversity exists and is very apparent whichever industry one may belong. What is most important is that everyone is given equal opportunities and is not being discriminated because of their minorities or being different. Policies should be observed to encourage and develop the skills of the employees. Diversity will allow company to grow if given importance as it may influence one from the other. For as long as the organization knows the ins and outs of the employees would best benefit the organization allowing personal growth and valuing once role in the organization.

Barnsieydale Sales-Related Data for 2004 and 2005 Report Research Paper

Barnsieydale Sales-Related Data for 2004 and 2005 Report - Research Paper Example There are various ways of adding and counting data (Microsoft Corporation 2006), the most appropriate are a simple addition and addition with one or more criteria. Subtotals by quarter for all persons are shown in the Sales Summary for 2005 in(000's) in Table 1. For example, Subtotal 815 means that all salespersons together have sold office furniture on 815,000 in the first quarter in the Commercial sector. Then, Sector subtotals (sales volumes by sector) are added. For example, Sector subtotal 3429 means that all salespersons together have sold office furniture on 3,429,000 in the Commercial sector in 2005. Then, 6,555,000 is annual sales result in 2005. Then formatting should be applied to the report to make it easy to read and understand. There are many basic formatting options available at the cell and worksheet level. Most are available on the Format Menu located on the Standard Excel toolbar. (Sandhills Publishing Company 2005) Pie charts and bar charts are very useful for analysis and easy to interpret. Peltier (2006) concludes that pie charts are good when you are showing the relative proportion of numbers that add up to a total, for a single series of data and when there are not too many wedges, particularly too many small ones. They show a good qualitative view of the data. Bar charts are good for quantitative displays, at showing progress toward a goal, especially if you've exceeded that goal (for this you should use a bar chart with a horizontal line at the goal). Sales by sector chart (Figure 1) shows the dynamic of sales of office furniture by a quarter in each sector. It shows that sales in Commercial sector are  £815 ,000 in the 1st quarter, then they grow to  £849,000 in the 2nd quarter, then they decline to  £799,000 in the 3rd quarter, and then they grow again to  £966,000 in the 4th quarter. Sales in the Commercial sector are higher than sales in other sectors in each quarter.

Labyrinths a symbol of mystery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Labyrinths a symbol of mystery - Essay Example However, labyrinths that are built in inside places are made up of tiles and floors. Such labyrinths are generally found in churches, cathedrals and other places of worship. A labyrinth is quite similar to a maze in structure and shape but it has striking differences as well. A maze usually has obstacles in it creating difficulties for the traveler to finish it whereas a labyrinth is comparatively easier to walk on without hindrances in the pathway. There are significant meanings attached to the existence and walking of labyrinths that serve as rituals among ancient cultures. It, however, is being practiced by many even in this modern era by a multitude of people all over the world regardless of their cast, creed, belief or religion. There are many famous labyrinths in different parts of the world which are the site of preservers of sacred tradition. The labyrinth described in this essay is the labyrinth of Grace Cathedral, located in Sac Francisco, California in United States. Grace Cathedral labyrinth is one of the famous labyrinths of the world and is a replica of the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral situated in France. The labyrinth in Grace Cathedral had been introduced in 1994 by Dr. Lauren Artress. There are two labyrinths in this cathedral; one is placed inside the cathedral whereas the other one composed of terrazzo stone is situated outside. Both of these labyrinths are open for visitors to walk on it and sense spirituality and divine revelations during the walking experience of the labyrinth. The narrator recently experienced walking through this labyrinth situated inside the cathedral and has recollected his personal experience in the next passages. I started a journey of walking the labyrinth inside Grace Cathedral in the morning with a candle in my hand. Everything looked so bright and beautiful to me in the cathedral the moment I began my walk through the labyrinth. Before entering the starting point of the labyrinth I was unaware of the feelings I was going to experience in the labyrinth as it was my first visit. I was very excited and I wondered what I was going to feel while walking through it. I started my walk barefooted and took a deep breath while stepping inside the labyrinth. I closed my eyes for a while and prayed in my heart. I opened my eyes to see a candle in my hand and walked slowly while focusing my mind on a thought. I pondered over my existence in the world and my role as a human being in this broad universe. Instantly the messages started coming in my mind from nowhere as if a door of knowledge was opened before me. I got meanings of my existence in life and thought of myself as a precious being capable of doing great things in life. I immediately felt happy and felt a sensation of calmness and serenity in my heart and soul. With these beautiful thoughts in my mind, I completed my walk toward the centre of labyrinth and stayed there for a while to pray. When I stayed quietly at the central point I felt as if I had been bestowed with something precious by God; the message of thinking of myself as a capable human being worthy of doing good things in life. During my journey backwards toward the starting point, I felt myself being transformed into a new self as if by magic. The labyrinth appeared a rite of passage for me as I walked back from the labyrinth to the starting point.

Researched argument essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Researched argument - Essay Example uch individuals has been depicted in several literary books and articles with a view of informing the entire nation and the world, at large, about the unlucky population in the United States. One of these books is Ehrenreich’s â€Å"Nicket and Dimed†. The book has its settings in Florida, Maine and Minnesota (Ehrenreich 38). People normally work to get money and make their lives better. However, what most of the workers in Florida experience is opposite, or contrary to what a reasonable person would think of. Most of the people in this area work hard but poverty still remain the greatest challenge to their existence and lives. Most of the workers strive to do their best but they do not achieve their target of affording a good lifestyle. The same is experienced by workers in Twin Cities in Minnesota and Maine. Another contradicting issue on the poverty life among people in these regions is that the demand for labor in most industries and companies is high, but the wages are very low and there are no increments. This is against the normal law of economics whereby an increase in demand naturally leads to an increase in the price of the product, or labor in this case. In addition to the above, the workers work tirelessly under these low wage rates. It is uncommon to find people commit themselves working on a peanut pay. Ehrenreich says that she grew with a belief that the secret of success was hard work and nothing else (E-notes.com). What she experiences in the mentioned areas makes her doubts her beliefs and the childhood teachings. ‘Hard work’ was the secret of success: ‘Work hard and you’ll get ahead’ or ‘It’s hard work that got us where we are (Chazelle & Chainani)†. She remembers this, through flashback, and believes that it is only t hrough hard work that she will achieve her life dreams and consequentially succeed in his plans. The reality that unveils the low-wage workplace is like a mockery to her (E-notes.com). She does not believe it

On The Semiosphere by Juri Lotman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

On The Semiosphere by Juri Lotman - Essay Example Here, Lotman has successfully put forth an example which could make his complex arguments very clear to even a lay person, through the use of analogy. The allegory is easy to understand for the reader. The overall conclusion that this essay arrives at is that, â€Å"the levels of the semiosphere comprise an inter-connected group of semiospheres, each of them being simultaneously both participant in the dialogue (as part of the semiosphere) and the space of dialogue (the semiosphere as a whole)† (Lotman, 205). Lotman has started his essay by referring to the two major schools of thought in semiotics, one the Saussurian school which focuses on the ‘act of communication’ and the Piercean school which stresses on the ‘sign’, the basic, coded, element of communication (205). Then he moves ahead to point out that both these schools have some thing in common, which is the stress that they give either to a single communication act or a single sign, ie; a sing le, atomic element (Lotman, 206). By describing this background, Lotman starts a logical reasoning process by giving chronological data and putting it as a block in the very beginning of the essay.   He has argued that, in this way, â€Å"the individual act of sign exchange has come to be regarded as a model of natural language [†¦] -as universal semiotic models† (Lotman, 206).In the next step of his rhetoric, Lotman has contested this conventional thought. He has opined that, this kind of reasoning is part of the traditional and flawed scientific thinking., where one is tempted always to move â€Å"from the simple to the complex’, and whereby one gets trapped into attributing a character to the object of study, just because it provided some convenience to make an analysis (Lotman, 206). In this way, Lotman has been applying the method of logos which says that the study of communication, or

In Defense of Globalization - International Trade and Free Markets Essay - 1

In Defense of Globalization - International Trade and Free Markets - Essay Example One of the most important provisions under neoliberalism has been international trade and free markets. This concept of free and market-based economies can be traced back to more than 200 years back when the idea was born during the years of the Industrial Revolution. Evidence of the emergence of this idea can be traced to the discussion of such ideas in a book titled The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith in 1776, which professed that in order to attain maximum efficiency, any form of intervention into the working of the market had to be withheld by the government and all kinds of taxes and surcharges on manufacturing and commerce had to be done away with. Given the old practices of the olden days, such new and innovative ideas were immediately opposed, due to which, free markets had to be introduced by force. The introduction of free markets led to a strong growth of the economies of the countries (especially the ones in Europe) that were undergoing the industrial revolution. However, the booming trade and the discovery of new lands prompted these nations to promote trade overseas, which did not go according to what Free market theory had professed. The mercantilist system helped the imperial powers in carrying out unfair trade practices, which helped them to get richer at the expense of the overseas territories, which became poorer and poorer. This led to the creation of a financial imbalance in the world order, which saw some nations getting very prosperous at the behest of other nations, whose people were forced to remain poor. The trend in this direction continued to persist until the Second World War, whose culmination witnessed a reduction in the economic might of the empires. This reduction of strength prompted the colonized countries to break free one after another. However, the massive changes in the world geopolitical system saw the evolution of different forms of government in various countries, such as democracy in India and Communism in the Soviet Union and Russia.     

Sports Essay On The Importance Of Health Essay Example for Free

Sports Essay On The Importance Of Health Essay For maximum realization of human potential, interplay between health, wellness, and fitness is essential. Health refers to a state of complete mental, physical, and social well-being, and not just in absence of infirmity or diseases. Wellness refers to condition of physical and mental health. Fitness refers to a quality that enables someone to carry out a certain role or task. The topic will be essential in exploring the importance carried by the interaction between health, wellness, and fitness in people. The paper will start by discussing health, its dimensions, and the factors influencing it. After health, wellness will be discussed in regards to the descriptions, the dimensions of wellness, and the factors influencing it. Physical fitness will also be discussed, and then lastly the value of having health, wellness, and physical fitness. Health Health, according to World Health Organization, refers to a state of complete mental, physical, and social well-being, and not just in absence of infirmity or diseases. The dimensions of health include physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and social. I think physical health refers to the state the body is in regarding its compositions, functions, development, and maintenance. The intellectual dimension is the ability to come up with skills and knowledge essential in enhancing our life. The emotional dimension means one’s ability in accepting and coping with their situation, and the feelings of others. Social dimension refers to the ability in building and maintaining relationships that satisfy our needs naturally. This is vital because we are social beings. Spiritual dimension refers to our ability to search for the purpose, and meaning of life (MD-Health.com, 2013). Factors influencing our health include the economic and social environment, our individual behaviors and characteristics, and the physical environment. The economic factors affect our choices regarding health. The rich can easily access vital services that can help transform health status. Issues explored regarding the physical environment include clean water and air, healthy work environments, good roads, and safe houses with favorable  neighborhoods. The individual behaviors for instance social networks are associated with good health. The genetic aspect, as well as the gender aspect are associated with our making, and are essential in determining our health. Accessibility to health services also influences our health in the sense that information and services regarding our health are readily available (MD-Health.com, 2013). Wellness Wellness is defined as the condition or state of being in good mental and physical health. Every aspect of our wellness is affected by stress. The dimensions of wellness include social, spiritual, emotional, occupational, environmental, physical wellness, and intellectual well being. Social wellness refers to our ability in relating and connecting with the other people in our places. Emotional fulcrum is our ability to understand ourselves, and cope with challenges brought by life. Our ability to establish peace with ourselves is categorized as spiritual wellness. Recognizing our own responsibility regarding the quality of air, water, and land is entailed in environmental well being. Occupational wellness is our ability to get fulfillment from jobs or in the careers we choose. The ability to open our own minds to ideas that are new is inclusive in intellectual wellness. Physical wellness refers to our ability to maintain healthy quality of life that permits us to go on with our daily activities (University-of-California, 2012). Factors influencing wellness include the health habits, family history, environment, access to health services, attitude, and media and technology. Health habits for instance smoking can lead to heart disease. Our daily health choices affect our level of health. The family history plays a role in pre disposition to a wide variety of conditions that affect our wellness. Examples of these conditions include heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. The physical environment refers to the things that we get exposed to in our work places, schools, and the general environment. They include air, radiation, water, sounds, crime, and recreational facilities. Our access to health services for instance vaccination, screening, and early treatment is essential in improving our quality of life. Our attitude, for instance optimism affects wellness by interacting with our decisions (University-of-California, 2012). Physical Fitness Physical fitness refers to being in good physical condition sometimes referred to as being in condition or in shape. The health related factors to physical fitness include muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibly, and body composition. Muscular strength is the ability of our muscles to exert maximal force in a given motion range. Muscular endurance is the ability of muscles to exert sub maximal force through a certain range of motion, or at a certain point over a specified period of time. Cardiovascular endurance refers to the ability to go on with training of the system over a longer period of time. The ability of a joint to move through full motion range is called flexibility. Body composition is the ratio of lean mass of body to the fat body mass. The skills related factors to physical fitness include speed, agility, power, co ordination, balance, and reaction times (Hoeger Sharon, 2011). The Value of Having Health, Wellness, and Physical Fitness The interaction between health wellness is quite essential in our lives because of many benefits that encapsulate. They include reduced risk of premature death, reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, decrease in resting heart rate, regulation of normal blood pressure, decrease in body fat, increase in HDL and decrease in LDL, and reduced risk of diabetes. Other benefits we gain include joint stability, strengthened bones, increase in muscle mass, increase in resting metabolism, improved core strength, improved balance and coordination, improved body image and self-esteem, reduced depression, and stress management (Sharkey Gaskill, 2006). How to Maintain Your Body Healthy, Well and Fit It is of crucial importance that we maintain our bodies healthy, well, and fit. Measures in maintaining our bodies healthy, well, and fit include engagement in aerobic exercise daily. The exercises increase our stamina and heart health. Another measure is choosing nutritious foods that offer minerals, vitamins, and elements to the body for optimal running. Lifting weight also offers us a way of trimming fat, increasing muscle mass, and boosting the immune system. Reducing stress is also an important option in  shaping the health of our minds. Stress leads us to eat for comfort, overeat, sink onto depression, and avoid exercise. These attributes are not favorable to good health. It is vital for us to meet with friends or join community groups in order to maintain good health (Hoeger Sharon, 2011). For maximum realization of human potential, interplay between health, wellness, and fitness is essential. Several factors as explored here above are important in determining health, wellness, and fitness in our lives. There seems to be a closer relation between wellness and health, as well as the factors that affect the components. There is also an enormous value in maintaining fitness in regards to the health status attained. Stress needs to be avoided for attainment of highest level of wellness, health, and physical activity . http://collegepapersamples.com/essay-samples/the-importance-of-health-wellness-and-fitness

Mainstream Literature Does this Worsen the Text?

Mainstream Literature Does this Worsen the Text? How far does conceding to the popular mainstream strip a text of its literariness? (Explore the ways in which your chosen essay texts negotiate competing demands of literary and the popular) William Faulkner said of Ernest Hemingway: He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary (UOI, 1947) attempting to demean the literariness of his works. Hemingway responded; Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use. (Ross, 1950) His response to Faulkners elitism suggests that a text does not have to adhere to the implicit, often judgemental rules that define a piece of work as literary in order to be worthy of such a title. Using the poems of Linton Kwesi Johnson and The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins, I will analyse how both authors navigate the fine line between what is popular and what is literary, and whether this affects the overall impact of their work or its integrity as literary fiction. I intend to argue that a text does not have to present itself in a literary fashion in order to be considered worthy of the te rm literary, and similarly, literary texts can exist without conforming to the demands of mainstream culture whilst still being appreciated by modern society. In its simplest definition, literature is simply a written work; it is only when we place the boundaries of what is considered intellectual, or art, upon it that there becomes any kind of speculation as to whether a writers work is literary or not. In contrast, popular culture is a term associated with primarily Western entertainment, news, technology and sports. In its initial conception, the idea of popular was one associated with the uneducated working class, in comparison to the literary culture of the upper classes. Pop culture was the culture of those outside the power establishment; it was entirely separate from scorned and excluded by those in power, who had their own official culture (Berrong, 1986). As a result, there is an ongoing elitism toward popular culture, with many labelling it trite or unintelligent, or suggesting that low culture stress substance, form and being totally subservient; there is no explicit concern with abstract ideas or even with fictional forms of contemporary social problems and issues content to depict traditional working class values. (Gans, 2008) As a result, creators and audiences of popular culture are by association considered to be superficial or lacking in intellect. Popular fiction is defined as plot-driven fictional works, written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, (French, 2010) so as to appeal to mainstream readers who buy into the pre-existing format because it is familiar, recognisable and easily digested. These so-called conventions of popular fiction are specific settings, roles, events and values that define individual genres and their subgenres (McKee, 1997) and often, publishing houses are known to present obligatory guidelines for authors to follow in order to have their works considered for publication. Any literature in fitting with these conventions is usually considered separate from literary fiction by critics for being stereotypical and poorly written; those texts are created solely to provide escapism to its readership as opposed to meaningful, carefully crafted prose that might incite thought or action. Literary fiction refers to works that hold so-called literary merit, which here means that they compr ise of political commentary, comments on societal hegemonic ideologies and the human condition. Like its popular counterpart, literary fiction is written purposely with its own set of conventions in mind, with the difference being that the focus of the works involved lingers more on themes than on fast-paced plot progression or audience appeal. It is arguable that pop culture is the easiest way to appease the mainstream, an audience fundamentally made up of young people; technology has transformed culture, especially popular culture, into the primary educational site in which youth learn about themselves and the larger world (Giroux, 2000). There has always been contentious debate regarding the discrepancies between high art, a category into which literature falls, and popular culture. However, it is arguable that this debate is obsolete; the distinction between the two is blurred just because a piece of work is easily accessible and appeals to the masses, does not necessarily sacr ifice its credibility or deem it an unintelligent piece of work that is lacking in thought. A televised adaptation of Austens Pride and Prejudice, or Baz Luhrmans modern reimagining of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, for instance, could be considered literary in an intertextual manner, being as their origins hail from classic literature. For instance, author John Storey would argue that the quantitative definition of culture has the problem that much high culture is also popular (Storey, 2014), making the two difficult to separate into distinguishable categories. It also could be said that pop culture is more intrinsic to society than so called high art, because it wields so much influence over the general public and which media they do or do not consume; in the struggle over the symbolic order that characterizes our times, popular culture developed by name brands and various forms of media, including the Hollywood film industry is crucial in creating the identities and representat ions that our youth embrace (Reynolds 2006). Linton Kwesi Johnson is a Jamaican writer based in the United Kingdom the second living poet, and the only poet of colour, to be immortalised in the Penguin Modern Classics collection. Johnson is a dub poet a genre that is, according to him, overcompensation for deprecation and as a writer, refuses to conform to English standards of poetry; he uses Creole patois as a political statement, defying the expectations society holds for poets. This phonetic, unstandardized transcription of his own language is certainly not that of great literary figures Jane Austen, George Orwell or Charles Dickens, and yet, he has been awarded the Golden PEN award in 2012 for a Lifetimes Distinguished Service to Literature. His idea of poetry has been passed through generations, and did not simply consist of standard Received Pronunciation English or what was deemed publishable but included traditional slave songs. Johnsons poetry is heavily inspired by the Black Panther movement, a group in which he be came active during his school years; their belief being that violence in the face of constant racism is necessary, using militant revolutionary force against the racist police and segregation of 1960s London. He himself describes his writing as a political act [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] poetry was a cultural weapon (Wroe, 2008). It was during Johnsons childhood that the SAS law, or the 1824 vagrancy act, was reintroduced, which enabled the police to arrest someone they suspected had intentions of committing a crime, allowing police to exploit and arrest people of colour in London without any evidence. The subject matter of his poetry is usually political, depicting his experiences as an African-Carribean living in Britain, but has also focused on foreign policies and police brutality. Johnsons poem If I woz a tap natch poet serves not only as an example of his subversion from the conventions of literary work but simultaneously describes his rejection of the canon, and his interstitial position between musician and poet, between high art and popular culture, between politics and aesthetics (McGill 2003). For instance, he begins if I waz a tap-natch poet, like Chris Okigbo, Derek Walcot ar T.S Eliot (Johnson, 2004); the opening challenges any predispositions suggesting that canons operate according to transparent principles of coherency or homogeneity. Chris Okigbo signals an alternative to the Western Canon advocated by critics. In contrast, Derek Walcott is a Nobel laureate, and his appearance suggests a movement back towards conservative tastes. However, the inclusion of T.S. Eliot demonstrates that the canon Johnson is crafting is unfortunately one made up entirely of people of colour. He continues by saying if he were top-notch himself, he would write a poem so h dyam deep/dat it bittah-sweet (Johnson, 2004), implying that the works of Okigbo, Walcott and Eliot create work that is deep or poses intellectual questions, a prerequisite of literariness. Moreover, the poem appears to carry another irony when analysed more thoroughly in that T. S Eliot appears as a token white poet, which is reflective of the way in which right-wing institutions that anthologise the zeitgeist of the times, such as anthologies, are known for including very few people of colour, sometimes just a single person, to demonstrate supposed diversity and avoid criticism or backlash from minorities. On perhaps the other end of the literary spectrum to Johnson is Suzanne Collins, an American writer, renowned for her young adult dystopian trilogy The Hunger Games. She was born in Harvard, Connecticut but being the daughter of a military officer, consistently moved across America. Consequently, inspired by her fathers career in the Air Force, her work tackles themes of war and its effects on the world, including poverty, starvation and innocent civilian death. The Hunger Games is set in Panem, a post-apocalyptic America made up of the Capitol and 12 surrounding districts; every year, two children from each district, male and female, are chosen to take part in an obligatory, televised fight to the death, known as the Hunger Games. The staggering popularity of her work resulted in her being named one of Time magazines most influential people of 2010 and as of March 2012, became the best-selling Kindle author of all time. It is not unusual for creators of literature to use so called p op culture tropes and appropriate them into high culture works; with the blurred lines of literary and popular first identifiable in the Romantic period where romance fiction became a substantial influence on future literature, despite having been previously disparaged. More recent examples include Andy Warhols use of the Campbell soup can in his pop art, as well as artist Jeff Koons conceptualising kitsch and pornography, subject matters often vilified for lacking in culture or finesse, to create new work which is supposedly worthier of the label high art. This same technique of intertextuality and the idea that any one piece of literature is created by combining several others is arguably evidenced in Collins dystopian novel; on the surface, it is a young adult romance implementing the typical formulaic conventions and character archetypes evidenced in the majority of mainstream pop culture, arguably inspired by the critical success of Stephanie Meyers Twilight saga. However, when discussing the origin of The Hunger Games, Collins cites the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur as the most significant inspiration for her book a classic Greek tale wherein Minos forces the people of Athens to sacrifice 14 women and children to be slaughtered by the Minotaur in the never-ending labyrinth. She also interweaved the concept of the Roman gladiator games; an all-powerful and ruthless government, people forced to fight to the death, and the games role as a source of popular information (Scholastic, 2010) and in doing so, she successfully brings re nowned, classic Greek literature to the mainstream audiences, albeit in a more easily digestible fashion, by reimagining the stories in a fashion that appeals to pop culture fans. Contrastingly, Johnsons poetry focuses not on fabled morality tales, but on real life issues of racism, segregation and police brutality, particularly in London, where he grew up. It can be assumed that, as this is not a topic to which popular culture utilise for its audiences, he does not concern himself with the opinions of critics, or of his audience for that matter, on his work. It is my understanding that it is more important for Johnson to promote anti-racial messages and protest against the mistreatment of people of colour. Johnson himself said that writing anti-establishment poetry during the Race Riots could be considered an act of protest, an act that could have been to his great detriment as a result of the United Kingdoms fervent racism. This shows Johnson to have integrity he is writing about what he believes is important and worth saying; one way to perform a test of literary merit must be, first, the sincerity of the writer. I would be willing, I think, even to add t he seriousness of purpose of the writer (Peters, 2006). From this, one can argue that Johnsons sincerity in his writing of his experiences, and his determination to express anger and encourage reactions to political issues makes his work literary. In If I waz a tap-natch poet, he purposely distinguishes himself from any of the other writers he mentions; he seems to exist in a liminal space, and it is difficult to discern where he sees himself within the hierarchy of literary and popular. It is arguable that he doesnt consider himself a part of either category, because neither of them serve any importance to him. However, whether a text is deemed literary or popular is very rarely a decision made by its own creator; Johnson is simply distancing himself from the process, as he feels it is unnecessary. Although his work holds no evidence of popular culture references, it is certainly popular amongst a specific minority group; people of colour. They have experienced many of the atrociti es he writes of, and can relate to them in a way that the white Western mainstream cannot. As a result, I would argue that Johnsons writing is certainly popular amongst a niche audience, and that appealing to the mass market is not the only category that makes a text worthy of the title. Johnson first became active in the poet community in school, but he was not published until 1974, in the journal Race Today. In the same year, Harper Lees controversial bildungsroman To Kill a Mockingbird was also released. Both Johnson and Lee tackle the subject matter of racism, albeit in different areas of the world, and Lees novel is regarded as one of the greatest of our generation. The difference between Harper Lee and Linton Kwesi Johnson is that one is a privileged white woman, and the other a Jamaican man of working-class background, whose poetry is not isnt carefully pre-packaged in the standard Oxford Dictionary English, the mainstream being young white heterosexual teenagers, who of cour se, prefer to access literature in this way. Johnson is angry about his mistreatment, and that of so many other people of colour, at the hands of white policemen and politicians and civilians. When declaring a text worthy of literary merit, critics significantly consider the moral or messages the story is trying to create, usually through the medium of symbolism or allegory. The metonymic concept of bread and circuses becomes particularly apt when looking at The Hunger Games, as the Latin translation Panem et circenses served as inspiration for the name of the novels fictional setting, Panem. The phrase, first used by Juvenal, who was degrading the sheep-like nature of common people, their selfishness and obliviousness to wider concerns and civic duty, alludes to an appeasement with a lack of substance. It refers to the way in which supposedly democratic governments make use of superficial distractions to satisfy the immediate, shallow requirements of a populace in order to continue to manipulate them for hegemonic gain. Although this could make reference to the Capitols attempts to placate the districts so they cannot overthrow their regime and dismantle their hierarchy, it could also be an allegory for the way in which popular culture works in the real world. When taking a Marxist reading of the novel, it is arguable that Collins was inspired by the Industrial Revolution, most noticeably the living conditions in 19th century Europe. Katniss illustrates this by saying What must it be like, I wonder, to live in world where food appears at the press of a button? How would I spend the hours I now commit to combing the woods for sustenance if it were so easy to come by (Collins, 2008). Collins plot coincides with Marxs socialist philosophy; Panem is comprised of two groups, the proletariat, or the people of the districts, and the bourgeoisie, or the Capitol. This highlights what is a fundamentally unfair system wherein the majority of wealth is held by the minority whilst the general public struggle to maintain a living. This is further evidenced by President Snows hosting of the Hunger Games, themselves, wherein his government hold complete power over the Districts and their people, who have absolutely no hope of ascending to higher status. Katniss, the protagonist of the novel, lives in the district that is hardest hit by the Capitols regime. She represents the lowest of the proletariat, whereas the closer the districts are to the Capitol, the more advantageous; Its tempting, so tempting, when I see the bounty waiting there before me. And I know that if I dont get it, someone else will. That the Career Tributes who survive the bloodbath will divide up most of these life-sustaining spoils. (Collins, 2008) Here, Katniss describes the Career tributes are more likely to survive, having received training for their entire lives to prepare for the games. Whilst Districts One and Two still have to supply children for the games, this is a mere faà §ade, bread and circuses; Snow makes the districts think everything is equal, but in actuality, the Career tributes are much likelier to survive and win the Games, thus maintaining the bourgeo isie whilst slowly killing off the poor. However, Katniss follows the Marxist ideology and seizes the means of production. Collins writes Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers faces. Theyd have failed the Capitol. Might possibly even be executed slowly and painfully, while the cameras broadcast it to every screen in the country (Collins, 2008) By refusing to conform, rejecting the role of victor and encouraging Peeta to do the same, this forces the Gamemakers to change the rules and allow both to win. Katniss is still aware, though, that the Capitol would have the power to make an example of the Gamemakers to restore order. These allusions to Marxism and communist theory imply that there is a lot more depth to Collins work than it at first seems; by incorporating themes of real life class issues, she is commenting on societal problems and posing a moral question regarding Americas modern class system. When asked how he would define literariness, critic Walter Van Tilburg Clark declared the final test of literary merit, is the power to endure obviously such a test cannot be applied to a new or recent work, and one cannot, I think, offer soundly an opinion on the probability of endurance (Peters, 2006). Here, he is arguing that the most significant criterion of the definition is that if a text can endure, it can be considered worthy of literary merit. It is not, then, necessary for a text to follow the other rules regarding context, connotations or conveying a higher meaning; if a text is popular, it is likely to endure. The Hunger Games Trilogy spent 50 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated to the screen as a multi-million dollar film series. Such a lengthy stay at the top of a highly-regarded rating system is suggestive of endurance, and therefore, regardless of the issues the trilogy presents in terms of stereotypical pop-culture tropes and character moulds, it can be defined as literary. In addition, the concept of literariness is one that is inherently subjective; particularly because aesthetic value is entirely based in personal preference. It is, according to critics, a relic of a scholarly elite.Similarly, the predispositions regarding popular texts and its dismissal as uncultured also seem to be outdated views stemming from old-fashioned beliefs. The examination and understanding of popular culture, therefore, is necessary to understanding ourselves, our identities and the world that surrounds us. A text that is considered brilliant by one, will be terrible to another; we each have different interests and tastes, and there is never going to be unanimity when defining literary and popular and the difference between them. The study of popular culture enables us to consider literature in a less judgemental, more open-minded fashion, voiding the inherent laws of what makes a text literary or fundamentally good. Popular cultur e does not exclusively lend itself only to companies to churn out poorly-written prose lacking in value and increase financial revenue, although it is manipulated by those in power to detract from real life issues; just because this is the case some of the time, it doesnt define all literature that falls into the category of popular as unworthy of also being literary. The two terms are not mutually exclusive, and a text does not give up its right to being one by adhering to some characteristics of the other. The spectrum of defining literary and popular categories, albeit arbitrary in nature, which are not binary opposites in terms of literature, is, in my opinion, one that is entirely personal, and each individual will hold opinion on where any given text falls; that does not make them true, as there are no correct answers. Word Count: 3496 _____________________________________________________________________ References Johnson, L. K (2002) If I Woz a Nap-Natch Poet, Mi Revalueshanary Fren: Selected Poems London: Penguin Collins, Suzanne (2008) The Hunger Games New York, Scholastic University of Iowa (1967) An Interview With William Faulkner The Western Review: A Literary Quarterly, Volume 15, Number 4 Ross, Lillian (1950) Profiles: How Do You Like It Now, Gentlemen? The New Yorker, F. R. Publishing Corporation, New York. Berrong, R.M (1986) Rabelais and Bakhtin: Popular Culture in Gargantua and Pantagruel University of Nebraska Press Gans, Herbert J (2008) Popular culture and high culture Basic Books. pp. 8-10 Storey, J (2014) From Popular Culture to Everyday Life Routledge French, C.T Literary Fiction vs Genre Fiction[online] http://www.authorsden.com/categories/article_top.asp?catid=10id=18884 (accessed December 2016) McKee, R (1997) Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting New York: HarperCollins. p. 87 Giroux, Henry (2000) Stealing Innocence: Youth, Corporate Power and the Politics of Culture, New York, St. Martins Press Reynolds, W (2006) Cultural curriculum studies, multiplicity and cinematic-machines Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, Caddo Gap Press Wroe, N (2008) I did my own thing [online] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/08/featuresreviews.guardianreview11 (accessed December 2016) McGill, R (2003) Goon poets of the black Atlantic: Linton Kwesi Johnsons imagined canon Textual Practice, Vol. 17, Issue 3 Scholastic (2010) Video: Classical Inspiration, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins [online] http://ww(w.scholastic.com/thehungergames/videos/classical-inspiration.htm (accessed December 2016) Bill, M; Peters, N (2006) Howl on Trial: The Battle for Free Expression City Lights Books. p. 224. Poland as a Potential Market: Environmental Analysis Poland as a Potential Market: Environmental Analysis 1.  INTRODUCTION Servcorp is an Australian-owned services company that specialises in the provision of business solutions. Its main offerings include fully-serviced office packages (office space bundled with IT and communications infrastructure and accompanied by IT and administrative staff), virtual office products such as communications and address services, and meeting rooms for hire (Servcorp, n.d.). Servcorp has expanded its operations into New Zealand, the U.S., Asia, and Europe. While the company operates in the UK, Belgium, and France, it does not currently operate in Poland. In this report, I will analyse five environmental factors relevant to the consideration of Poland as a potential market for Servcorp. These are the country’s political and legal environment, economic environment, trade and financial environment, social and cultural environment, and infrastructure. The ensuing discussion will integrate these findings and provide an overall outlook for Poland. Finally, based on these analyses, a number of recommendations will be put forward regarding Servcorp’s potential expansion into Poland. 3.  ANALYSIS OF THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 3.1.  Political and legal environment Poland has become one of the most politically stable European countries since it joined the European Union (EU) in 2004 (Bujnicki, 2013). In 2012, Poland ranked below the OECD average on the FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index (where a lower score indicates fewer restrictions on FDI) (OECD, 2012). Poland also has a number of state aid measures in place to attract foreign investment. For example, the country has 14 Special Economic Zones; these areas have relaxed income taxation rules and have the appropriate infrastructure in place for starting a business, though businesses require a license to operate in these zones (Lex Mundi, 2013). In Poland, then, Servcorp would find political environment that actively encourages FDI with the view that it is vital to developing the country’s economy. While Poland has few restrictions on FDI, its overall regulatory environment is somewhat complex. The World Bank (2013) ranked Poland 45 of 189 countries on the ease of doing business in 2013, though pointed out that the country’s tax system remains complex and outdated. It takes an average of 685 days to enforce contracts in Poland compared to the OECD average of 529 days, and a number of other bureaucratic hurdles remain (World Bank, 2013). For Servcorp, these factors mean that the company might have to do substantial research into Poland’s tax system, as it contains intricacies not present in Australia’s taxation laws. Property registration is a vital consideration for Servcorp, as the nature of the business means that they must acquire office space to hire out to clients as well as a building for their own use. The World Bank (2013) ranked Poland 54 on the ease of registering property. This is compared with a rank of 40 for Australia; however, there is only one more procedure involved in registering property in Poland than there is in Australia, so red tape in this arena is only slightly more pronounced. 3.2.  Economic environment Real GDP growth in Poland ranged from 1.6% to 6.8% during the period 2005-2012; Poland was the only country in the EU to experience a growth in GDP during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis (OECD, 2013). Real GDP in Poland is expected to grow by 2.7% in 2014 and 3.3% in 2015 (OECD, 2013). However, Poland experienced a small slump in economic growth in 2013; recent changes in fiscal policy have been aimed at encouraging economic growth through expanding the budget deficit and eliminating restrictions on fiscal stimulus measures (Onoszko Krasuski, 2013). Overall, demand for the modern services provided by Servcorp may increase as Poland’s citizens experience an increase in wealth and the economy continues to grow at a healthy rate as a result of these fiscal measures. The slight downturn in real GDP growth in 2013 has been accompanied by low inflation (Eglitis, 2013). This is promising for Servcorp, as it means that the business may be in a better position to make long-term plans with the knowledge that their purchasing power will not decline, and borrowing costs may be lower. With the Polish government’s planned relaxation of fiscal policy, however, Servcorp must continue to track changes in inflation given that these measures may work to raise inflation. 3.3.  Trade and financial environment Relevant bilateral agreements between Australia and Poland include the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement and the Double Taxation Agreement (DFAT, 2013). These agreements ensure that the interests of foreign investors are protected in Poland, and in the case of the latter agreement, that foreign businesses do not have to pay taxes on their business profits in each of the two countries. In short, both agreements are conducive to Servcorp doing business in Poland. A discussion regarding tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in Poland will not take place here as Servcorp is not seeking to export to or import from Poland—rather, this report considers the risks and opportunities Servcorp faces in establishing operations in Poland. For similar reasons, free trade agreements that Poland has with other European countries will not be discussed here. In 2012, Poland ranked 37 on the Financial Development Index, which along with other factors, considers a country’s financial stability (World Economic Forum, 2012). Specifically, the WEF found that Poland performed particularly well in terms of the stability of its exchange rate and banking system. The leniency with which currency transactions are treated in Poland depends heavily upon the nature of the relationship between the transactor’s home country and Poland (Lex Mundi, 2013). Because Australia has a tax treaty with Poland (ATO, 2012), Australians can expect to face minimal problems when engaging in currency transactions in Poland. It appears that Servcorp would face little financial risk in the country. 3.4.  Social and cultural environment In Poland, 60.9% of the total population live in urban areas (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). This is compared to 80% in the UK, 97% in Belgium, and 85% in France. Poland’s comparatively low rate of urbanisation suggests that there may be less of a demand for the services that Servcorp offers (office space, IT and communications infrastructure for businesses) in Poland compared with the other European countries in which the company operates. Religion plays a prominent role in Poland, with 89.8% of the population identifying as Roman Catholic (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). Servcorp must recognise and close business on religious occasions that are not recognised as national holidays in Australia, such as Corpus Christi. Poland also tends to score highly on uncertainty avoidance, meaning that citizens may reject unorthodox or innovative ideas put forward by some businesses (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.). This poses a small risk to Servcorp given that much of their product offering rests on their â€Å"virtual office† innovation; Poles may be wary of this unfamiliar idea. In terms of corruption, Poland’s score on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) in 2013 was 60 of a possible 100 (where 100 indicates no corruption whatsoever), above the world average (Transparency International, 2013). However, there is some concern that Poland does not have the appropriate frameworks in place to manage the growing risk of foreign bribery that comes with its expanding economy (OECD, 2013). Servcorp must be aware of this risk while simultaneously recognising that bribery is not an endemic part of Polish culture. 3.5.  Infrastructure Poland’s score on the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) in 2012 was 3.10 (where the maximum possible score is 5) (World Bank, 2012). This is substantially lower than the 2012 scores received by the European countries in which Servcorp currently operates (the UK, Belgium, and France, which received scores of 3.95, 4.12, and 3.96 respectively). The OECD (2013) remarked that the quality of Poland’s transport and communications infrastructure â€Å"are among the lowest in the OECD† (p. 217). A finding of particular concern is that Poland’s fixed broadband coverage is the lowest in the EU, at only 69.1% (Point Topic, 2012). Poland’s relatively low fixed broadband coverage may prove problematic for Servcorp given that a substantial portion of their business model rests on their provision of modern IT and communications infrastructure to organisations. When acquiring office space for company use as well as for hiring out to clients, a constant concern may be whether or not there is broadband access at that location. Though this is an issue, things may be set to improve: a joint venture between Hawe and TP Teltech is aimed at substantially improving Poland’s broadband infrastructure (van Blommestein, 2012). 5.  REFERENCES Australian Taxation Office. (2012). Countries that have a tax treaty with Australia. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.ato.gov.au/General/International-tax-agreements/In-detail/Tax-treaties/Countries-that-have-a-tax-treaty-with-Australia/ Bujnicki, P. (2013, February 23). Zloty climbs as Fitch revises Poland rating outlook to positive. Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-22/zloty-climbs-as-fitch-revises-poland-rating-outlook-to-positive.html Central Intelligence Agency (2013). The World Factbook: Poland. Retrieved January 7, 2014, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pl.html DFAT. (2013). Poland country brief. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/poland/poland_brief.html Eglitis, A. (2013, November 15). Polish October inflation rate drops to lowest in four months. Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-14/polish-october-inflation-rate-drops-to-lowest-in-four-months.html Lex Mundi. (2013). Doing business in Poland. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.lexmundi.com/lexmundi/Guides_To_Doing_Business.asp Ministry of Treasury (2012). Fast growth of business services sector in Poland and prospects of its continuation – business services centers are becoming Polish specialty. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://msp.gov.pl/en/polish-economy/economic-news/3641,Fast-growth-of-business-services-sector-in-Poland-and-prospects-of-its-continuat.html OECD (2012). FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.oecd.org/investment/fdiindex.htm OECD. (2013a). Country statistical profile: Poland. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/country-statistical-profile-poland_20752288-table-pol OECD. (2013b). Poland – Economic forecast summary. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.oecd.org/eco/outlook/polandeconomicforecastsummary.htm OECD. (2013a). Poland needs strategy to meet growing risk of foreign bribery. Retrieved January 7, 2014, from http://www.oecd.org/daf/anti-bribery/polandneedsstrategytomeetgrowingriskofforeignbribery.htm OECD. (2013b). Economic policy reforms: Going for growth 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2014, from http://www.oecd.org/inclusive-growth/Economic%20Policy%20Reforms%202013%20Going%20for%20Growth.pdf Onoszko, M., Krasuski, K. (2013, July 17). Poland to relax budget and fiscal rules to stimulate economy. Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-16/polish-government-relaxes-budget-fiscal-rules-to-boost-economy.html Point Topic. (2012). Broadband coverage in Europe in 2012: Mapping progress towards the coverage objectives of the Digital Agenda. Retrieved January 7, 2014, from http://point-topic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Point-Topic-Broadband-Coverage-in-Europe-in-2012-Final-Report-20130813.pdf Servcorp. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved January 6, 2014, from http://www.servcorp.com.au/en/about-us/ The Hofstede Center. (n.d.). Poland. Retrieved January 7, 2014, from http://geert-hofstede.com/poland.html Transparency International. (2013). Corruption Perceptions Index 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2014, from http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2013/results/#myAnchor1 van Blommestein. (2012). Is Poland finally getting out of the broadband slow lane? Retrieved January 7, 2014, from http://www.zdnet.com/is-poland-finally-getting-out-of-the-broadband-slow-lane-7000003129/ World Bank. (2012). Logistics performance index: Quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure [Data set]. Retrieved January 7, 2014, from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/LP.LPI.INFR.XQ World Bank. (2013). Doing business 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.doingbusiness.org/~/media/GIAWB/Doing%20Business/Documents/Annual-Reports/English/DB14-Full-Report.pdf World Economic Forum. (2012). The Financial Development Report 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_FinancialDevelopmentReport_2012.pdf